The Tragedy of Danzigorro Potts24,465 BBY
by BaiShenLong
Summary: Based on an entry in Ryder Windham's "Jedi Vs. Sith: A Guide To The Force", this story is actually based on canon and uses extremely obscure canon chars as well as some of my creation. It is set during the First Great Schism. The story is complete.


Intro: The First Great Schism was the first major conflict between the proper Jedi Order and Dark Jedi. It occurred mere centuries after the founding of the Republic upon the climax of the Unification War, circa 25,053 BBY. The Jedi Order was quite strict back then. Students were made to meditate for hours and hours, and were driven very hard. When a Jedi named Xendor discovered that the force could be used for more than what the Jedi said it could be used for, he began to experiment. He made his discovery known to his fellow students, and they too began to dabble in the Dark Side. Eventually, he and his lover, a force using martial artist named Arden Lyn, left to begin their own order. His Followers went with him as did others who were tired of the Jedi Order's strict way of doing things. I don't think Xendor ever told them that he was a follower of the Dark Side. I think he masked it as abilities he had discovered while experimenting. The others learned how to use these abilities and the Dark Side began to corrupt them. They formed a group called The Legions of Lettow with Xendor as the leader and eventually declared war on the Jedi. Even during the war, more and more Jedi ran off to join Xendor.

This short story relates the final battle of the War. The Battle of Columnus had no survivors(except for Arden Lyn who was held in stasis until the reign of the Empire) and the only testament of the battle is a datacard that a Jedi named Danzigorro Potts recorded before passing away. This recording was featured in the book "Jedi Vs. Sith: A Guide To The Force" by Ryder Windham. I based the plot on the events described in the recording. I also transcribed the recording with only a few minor changes to better fit the story I wrote. I will eventually touch it up a little, maybe add more descriptions, improve dialogue and general writing where applicable. But here it is:

Columus: 24,465 BBY

"I hate the rain," muttered Danzigorro.

"Always the one to complain, hunh Danzigorro?" asked Master Latka Nufrom. He was a Nosaurian from New Plympto, so he was dwarfed by the Human Jedi in his detachment which totaled 5 Jedi. In total, there were 30 Jedi in the entire force sent here to Colomus, the last refuge for Xendor and his followers. As the Jedi denied to allow the Republic intervene. This was their problem, their fight.  
"I'm sorry master Nufrom," said the young Jedi. He had reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes and wore a beige Jedi tunic under his soggy brown cloak. Strapped to his back was a sheathed sword.

"Do not apologize. We all hate the rain, Danzigorro." The Nosaurian gestured to the other Jedi. Some were coughing. "Let's go ahead and get this over with so we can go home.

Danzigorro walked next to Nufrom. "Do you know how many Dark Jedi remain, master?"

"I couldn't tell you. But Xendor is here, and really, that's all that matters, young Jedi." Nufrom scratched his crest momentarily. "You know she's here, don't you."

Danzigorro frowned and sighed. "I don't want her to die. I want to find her, convince her. She never was evil. She was impatient with the Jedi teachings, but she wasn't evil."

"Well, let me tell you something, Danzigorro. Just because she wasn't evil then cannot guarantee she isn't evil now. The dark side is like a drug. You constantly want more power once you've taken your first steps towards it. It corrupts very easily. You may not like what you see," explained Nufrom. And just as he finished his sentence, they reached the end of the forest and entered a wide clearing. "Everyone stay on guard!"

The other groups of Jedi were set to come from all sides of this large clearing, for this was where Xendor was. Nufrom, being a Nosaurian, could make his throat phosphoresce. He was to use this ability to signal the attack. But first, he needed to make sure every group was ready at the border of the forest. In the middle of the clearing, a group of about 10 dark Jedi awaited. Surrounding them was a set of three circular trenches, many housing dwelling dug into the ground and campsites. The ever present rain was already causing the trenches to flood, as the drainage systems of the trenches could not accommodate for the amount of rain falling this day. There probably were more dark Jedi sitting in the trenches.

"Alright, everyone unsheathe your swords and have them ready. Now, charge!" yelled the Nosaurian.

Appropriately, the dark Jedi all fanned out. The Jedi made loud splashing sounds that resounded throughout the battlefield as they ran through the mud, careful to keep their balance. Looking left, Danzigorro saw the adjacent strike team reach the first trench, meeting a duo of Dark Jedi in the trenches. Immediately, the clangs of sword combat and the screams of those who were injured filled the air. Focusing on what was ahead, Danzigorro jumped into the first trench with the other Jedi. The Jedi beside him was mutilated by a dark Jedi wielding a force augmented sword as they landed. With a yell, Danzigorro attacked the dark Jedi. He wore armor over his grey tunic and had a shaved and tattooed head.

"Jedi fools. You have no chance of survival. We have become gods!" screamed the dark Jedi.

He struck with his sword against Danzigorro aggressively, desperately trying to mutilate him. The water down here was knee length and restricted movement. Then, a small Nosaurian jedi, Nofrum, snuck behind the enemy and with his two daggers, jumed onto the man's shoulders and slit his throat, letting loose a spray of warm blood onto the ground and Danzigorro's face.

"Sorry about that," the little Jedi said as Danzigorro wiped his face. "If I had stabbed him with these, he would have only been momentarily distracted.

"No problem. You really helped me." Danzigorro looked around the trench. "The others?"

"They've gone on ahead. There were only two dark Jedi here so I told them to go on. Why don't we head off? We can gather Caltrid's remains later," he said, gesturing to the mutilated Jedi.

"Yeah. Lead the way, Master."

They jumped out of the trench and back to ground level. All around them, battles raged. Already, in such a short time, Danzigorro could see dead Jedi of both alignments. Many meters ahead, five Jedi faced against Arden Lyn and Xendor.  
"The Jedi masters are taking care of him. My place is with the Jedi attacking Xendor and his officers. You take care of the other dark Jedi."

Before Danzigorro could reply, the Nosaurian dashed off, bounding over the trenches with little effort. As he neared the second trench, a duo of dark Jedi jumped the edge. Danzigorro was shocked to see it was his best friend Blendri Carathan and her apprentice Cuthallox. Blendri was Human, born on Coruscant to a poor family of merchants. She had light brown eyes and blonde hair, at least when she was at the temple. She had dyed her hair black. Danzigorro had seen her before while she had been affiliated with the Legions of Lettow, but not up close and personal. A new thing he noticed was the new color of her eyes. It was like a planet whose core had ruptured. They looked like two pools of lava. Cuthallox had been her apprentice before she became a dark Jedi. He was a Herglic. The Herglic were a whale-like species from beyond the Republic's borders. He wore a black uniform and a set of armor padding over it. His forehead was adorned with blood-red tattoos.

"Hello, Danzigorro Potts. Long time." She had an insane grimace painted on her once fair skin which had started to become pale.

"Blendri! I don't want to do this!"

"I want to do this. Hesitation is for weak-willed fools. You don't deserve your powers. You don't know how to use them!"

"Yes I do! I use them to help others, not to serve myself, my interests." Sweat formed on his forehead. He wasn't strong enough to get himself to fight her.

"I know there's still good in you. I grew up with you. This isn't you Blendri."

"You're right. This isn't me. At least not the person you grew up with. She was weak." She looked back at Cuthallox, who then raised his sword. "Why don't you kill him? Prove yourself to me."

Cuthallox let out a yell and ran with his sword raised. A red aura flashed around it. Danzigorro stood adamantly waiting for Cuthallox to reach him. As the sword came down upon him, he rolled out of the way. The Herglic was too strong for a parry to stop, so Danzigorro resolved to avoid his attacks instead.

"You're only using him because you can't do it yourself!" he yelled while dodging Cuthallox's attacks.

When Cuthallox struck the ground next, plunging his sword into the wet, compact dirt, Danzigorro took his chance used the force to force him onto the ground. He ran forward and plunged his sword into Cuthallox's back through a gap in his armor padding. Even then, it was hard to kill him. He had to stab him multiple times for him to die. When he felt the Herglic die through the force, he raised his blood-soaked blade and looked at Blendri.

"I didn't want to do this, but he left me no choice."

"He was weak. He deserved what he got," she said, unfazed by the death of her apprentice. She augmented her own sword. "Come now, Jedi."

Danzigorro thought he spotted a hint of remorse. He raised his blade and charged at her, only seeking to injure her, so that he could possibly talk some sense into her. He started to run at her, blade to the side. She arced her saber diagonally, but Danzigorro parried and pushed her of balance. He had forgotten that she had been standing near the edge of the second trench, so she fell in, loosening the ground with her fall. Danzigorro himself slipped. He landed face first into the muddy water. Sensing an attack, he rolled out of the way of an attack and got up. Blendri gripped him with the force and threy him against the muddy wall of the trench. Then, she ran at him, enraged. But before she reached him, she stopped. At the same time, Danzigorro felt his sword jerk. He looked down and saw why. Danzigorro had unintentionally augmented his sword with the force and Blendri had run into the sword. Thus, Blendri had accidentally impaled herself. Desperately, Danzigorro stopped channeling force energy into his sword and tried to pull the sword out of Blendri's stomach, but Blendri grabbed his shoulders and painfully pulled herself towards him. Her eyes had returned to their original color, and her face was kind again. She was bleeding at the mouth and crying.

"You saved me, Danz. You saved me," she said weakly.

Danzigorro began to cry as well. "No Blendri. Please! You're killing yourself!"

"I'm going to die anyways. Please help me pass on peacefully. Forgive me," she said, sobbing uncontrollably.

"There's nothing to forgive Blendri. That wasn't you. That was the dark side itself. You were it's pawn. As is everyone else here."

"We were curious. We were impatient. I'm so, so sorry." She wrapped her arms around him, and with what little strength she had left, she reached her head forward and they kissed. And then, with the last amount of breath in her lungs, she told him how she felt about him. "I love you. I've always loved you."

Blendri passed away seconds later. Danzigorro let go of the hilt and she fell into the water, another casualty of this horrible war. He fell and began to cry.

...  
An hour later, the sounds of combat subsided. He couldn't sense anyone else alive. He had remained next to Blendri's body for the rest of the battle. Blendri wasn't the last dark Jedi he fought, for another one came and attacked. Tired and unfocused as a result of his battle with Blendri, the dark Jedi stabbed him in the left shoulder and sliced open his calf, but he managed to kill the dark Jedi before more damage was done. He was bleeding to death, but he was apparently the only survivor of the battle. On his utility belt, Danzigorro had a voice recorder. He unclipped it, deciding to document the events of the battle, so that if he died, people would know about what happened on Columus.

_I think I'm the only one left. Xendor is dead. The Legions of Lettow have been vanquished. I kow it's wrong, but I am relieved by his death, as I trust it brings an end to this awful war. For the first time in months, I look forward to tomorrow. __  
__I wonder... I wonder if I might find a spot of sunshine in this terrible rainstorm. Better yet, I hope my senses deceive me... I hope I find a familiar, friendly face... one that's still breathing. __  
__Forgive me, my Masters. My thoughts go astray. I do not mean to dishonor your teachings by babbling. You know I was never good with words. I always wished I could make them flow better. My throat is so dry. And I'm bleeding something awful. I hope I'm holding this audiocard right. [Static.] __  
__Hear my words, fellow Jedi. I, the Jedi apprentice Danzigorro Potts, am the last survivor of the conflict on Columus. There were nearly thirty Dark Jedi I suppose, maybe more, so we were fairly evenly matched. We all split up in groups as did they, and we all killed each other. The battle was fierce and fast. It's so quiet now, peaceful even, but we can thank the Force for all we... __  
__We can thank the Force for... __  
__So sorry. I want to leave you with some important words. I guess I'm at a loss. [Static.] __  
__I'm dying. I'm just going to say whatever I want to say. __  
__I killed my friend Blendri Carathan and her apprentice Cuthallox today, right here on the battlefield. Hadn't seen them since they ran off with my old Master, Jook-Jook H'broozin, to join up with Xendor. Caught up with H'broozin on Corulag and ran him through, I did, but Blendri and Cuthallox kept getting away, one world to the next. All the way to here. Not that I wanted revenge, of course, but... well, all the rebels had to be stopped, did they not? __  
__I loved being a Jedi. Loved it. Wouldn't have changed a thing. But to be honest, after Blendri joined up with the Legions of Lettow, I started thinking. About how long she'd been complaining about the Jedi Order being so sterile. About how bored she was by all that endless meditation. __  
__Understand, I was never tempted by the dark side. Being in the light was never a balancing act for me, it wasn't. Maybe it's because I'm simpler than some, or so Blendri says. I mean, that's what she used to say. But I never ducked a battle, and I never betrayed the Jedi, and I never wanted to do bad things. __  
__To the Jedi who finds this data card, I'm hoping you'll remember this about Blendri. You see, Blendri was my best friend when we were children. She was the one who showed me how to use the Force, even before we knew what the Force was. She was a good girl, Blendri was. A really good person. Maybe she teased me a few times when she became a Jedi Knight and I was still an apprentice, but I knew she was just joking. The reason I mention this is because I don't think she joined the dark side and the Legions of Lettow because she was evil. I think she just got tired of all the Jedi rules, being told what to do, how to behave, all the time. I think it crushed her a bit. __  
__As for the other Jedi who left the Order to join the Legions... I don't know. It seems too easy to blame everything on Xendor and the dark side. Maybe we, maybe the Jedi were partly to blame, too. I'm not good with history, but I know that for more than five centuries, the Jedi didn't have much trouble with anyone. Sure, a dark Jedi here and there, I heard tell. But then along came Xendor, telling Jedi they didn't have to obey orders all the time. __  
__I know it sounds crazy, but I wonder... maybe the Jedi need an enemy. I think... without a common enemy... we... we'll just wind up fighting each other... and ourselves. Does that make sense? __  
__It's getting really cold. I only wish- __  
__[End of recording.]_

Danzigorro couldn't breathe any more. He switched of the audiocard, and put it on his lap. The water had been receding, taking his ever-flowing blood with it as it entered the drainage system. He was tired, really tired, so much that he could barely hold his eyes open. He did not resist the inevitable, and closed his eyes. And then he went limp and fell into the mud.


End file.
